PAM Transport wants to be the eighth carrier with a learner's-permit exemption — comments are open through Nov. 27

PAM Transport wants to join a growing list of motor carriers holding a federal exemption for commercial learner's permit holders, according to Land Line Media on Oct. 27. In a notice published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, Oct. 27, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced that PAM Transport is also seeking the exemption — the eighth carrier to ask, if it is granted, after seven carriers already hold active versions of it.

The rule at issue is specific. Regulations require that a CDL holder be seated in the front seat while a commercial learner's permit holder drives on public roads, under 49 CFR 383.25(a)(1). The exemptions apply to a narrower group than the phrase 'learner's permit' suggests: permit holders who have passed the CDL skills test but have not yet obtained the actual CDL document from their home state. In other words, the driver has already demonstrated the skills to an examiner; what is missing is the trip home and the paperwork in hand.

The seven carriers that currently possess active exemptions are Wilson Logistics, Werner Enterprises, Landair Transport, CR England, New PRIME, CRST and Steven's Transport. PAM Transport, headquartered in Tontitown, Ark., said the exemption would 'allow the CLP holder to begin employment in a timelier manner, strengthen their newly acquired driving skills and participate in a revenue-generating trip back to their state of domicile to obtain their CDL documents.' Somewhere between 500 and 700 commercial learner's permit holders would operate under the exemption each year, according to the company.

PAM also told the agency what denial would cost, in its own framing. The company suggested that denial of the exemption would create 'financial hardships for already-trained drivers and the potential degradation of recently acquired driving skills.' That is the carrier's argument, presented as the carrier made it: a driver who has passed the test but must sit idle — or ride home without driving — loses both income and the fresh skills the test just certified, while the carrier loses the revenue trip that would have carried the trainee home under load.

The recent history shows FMCSA is willing to grant these even over opposition. The agency granted a five-year exemption to Landair Transport on Sept. 1 despite opposition from truck safety groups and individual truckers. FMCSA received 10 comments on Landair's request, with eight opposed, one in support and one neutral. Opponents contend that large carriers are using the exemption so that they can run teams with the commercial learner's permit holder. The Truck Safety Coalition wrote on Landair's request that all carriers should be willing and prepared to meet the cost that minimal safety compliance requires, and called on FMCSA to demonstrate an unwavering commitment to safety and deny what it called an inadequately justified exemption application. The denial side exists too: FMCSA recently denied a similar request from Agri-Tech Aviation, citing concerns over the transportation of hazardous materials.

Nothing about this request changes the rule for anyone else today. PAM has asked; FMCSA has published the notice; no exemption for PAM exists unless and until the agency grants it. Drivers at the seven carriers already holding exemptions operate under the terms of those grants, and drivers everywhere else remain under the front-seat rule exactly as written. It is also worth keeping the scope straight: this is not a proposal to let untested permit holders drive alone, and it does not waive the skills test — the exemption, as described in the notice, begins only after the test has been passed.

The practical takeaway is a date and a docket. Comments on PAM Transport's exemption request will be accepted through Nov. 27, and Land Line reports they can be submitted through the Federal Register link or at Regulations.gov under Docket No. FMCSA-2026-3466. If you train new drivers, hire entry-level drivers, or have an opinion — for or against — about whether a skills-test passer should run the trip home without a CDL holder beside them, this comment window is where that opinion becomes part of the record the agency must answer. If you drive for PAM or are in its training pipeline, do not assume the exemption is in effect: ask your safety department, in writing, whether a grant has issued before you ever drive under it.